Friday, June 15, 2007

6/15 - Wish you were here!

I caught them sitting down, relaxing...... yes, even die-hard's like me sit every once in awhile. But not for long. ( I have room for deck chairs!!)

Because things really went NUTZ as that tide got lower.

Before fishing one spot, most of the day. I did try two others.

The first one I pulled up to, I immediately had a nice fattie on

my first drift of the float. Second drift I got my azz handed to me

and lost the fish to a piling encrusted with oysters.

Then on my 3 drift I caught a small Flounder.

Then it was time to move on.....

I need me some better size T-routs, I thought.

And I found them BIG TIME.

It was a New Moon, so nothing was easy about figuring out the tides. But hell, they were strong tides. And I'll take strong current over weak current any day.

Since I'm a "tide runner" in the summer months, when I head up river if I don't have a 4.0' tide or better, you can bet your britches we won't have that great a day, because we won't have enough current/tide. A weak tide doesn't reach very far up river.

-Remember, I don't pick the days, ya'll do. If I could have picked one

for you IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TODAY!!!! But instead I just had two kinda wacky calls. When a woman calls me, it's inevitable, this "possible" charter will never happen. Why is that?

As you can see, I took a lot of photo's of MYSELF. Because I'm the only one I know that does DAILY reports,with photos, trying to convince people, "yes, I'm YOUR man."

All these fish, and no waves, seasickness, or getting beat-up.

Right in my backyard.

Does anyone of the calls I get, that I send here ever look at this Blog? I wish I knew. I do this for potential customers, not for myself.

Yesterday's blog entry was to educate folks that haven't a clue on why we charge what we do. All this (here) I do.....is home work, I do for YOU. I'd love to be sitting in my lazy boy, right now. After a 12 hour day in the sun.

I totaled:

16- Speckled Trout, from 17" to 21"

and half of them were 20-21".....nice fish but no GIANTS.

5- Black Drum from 13" to 21"

perfect eaters, went in the fish box.

1- Flounder

Sorry, no photo. The spot I was on is a double whammy secret

Trout spot. No photos allowed.

6- Redfish 16" to the big dog a 30 incher, which was caught on a super fairy wand of a rod, with a jig and a dead shrimp. No one ever said Redfish or even the black Drum are smart or picky. I kept my one, and it was 21", perfect for the fish box.

1- baby Gag Grouper, these guys are on every rocky

spot in the river.

1- 5 pound Jack Crevalle

2- Bluefish

Then there's Mike.....

I'm heading home and pass by one of my favorite Trout areas

and see "Mr. Make Dave Depressed". We chit chat, and he hangs a big ole Red on a jig-n-shrimp combo meal, and then we chit chat, and he hangs another.

FOLKS....If you have any fishing ability at all, you need to call me!

Because a well placed jig-n-shrimp, or a float-rig on some of these areas in the river right now, will mean Hang-On time for you.

Bruisers are out there. But they don't come easy.

Cover, shelter, what ever you like to call it is where they will be hiding. And you have to get in there, and get them OUT.

The reason Mike is "Mr. Make Dave Depressed" is because that guy in that skiff boat caught two giant Snook last week, fishing MONSTER STRUCTURE that's not for the faint of heart or the beginner.

(2)- meaning 12 & 15 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!

I fish at least every other day or more 12 months a year, and have for at least 11 of the years I've been in the charter biz, and before that I fished 3 days a week when I was a 9-5'er.

And have never even seen a SNOOK in Jacksonville!

People, are catching them. And Mike's in the exclusive Snook Club

and grinning from ear to ear!

I think I've made my mind up, at least for this year. I think I'm gonna stay in the river the rest of the summer, it's my back yard. And I like it, because I know it. I know that on about any given day, I can get into some kind of trouble, be it either attempting to yank a fat Trout from behind a Piling, or pull a Redfish from around a submerged rock. It's the direct opposite of what I do in the winter time, but the more I fish these kinds of places, the more I love'em. You will too.